WASHINGTON - Paul Wolfowitz may lose his job as president of the World Bank in Washington for arranging a pay raise for his companion who also worked at the World Bank.

Wolfowitz Thursday admitted helping to arrange a raise in pay for Shaha Ali Riza at a time when she was transferred from the bank to the U.S. State Department, where she remained on the bank payroll, The New York Times Reported.

He apologized for his role in the affair as he met with a few hundred World Bank staff members. Some in his audience responded with boos, catcalls and calls for his resignation, the newspaper said.

Bank officials said earlier it would be "impossible for the institution to move forward with any sense of purpose under the present leadership."

Wolfowitz's public confession comes on top of what was already a troubled relationship between him and many bank officials, who had questioned his suitability for the job, the Times said.

Complaints centered on his role as a former deputy secretary of defense and architect of the Iraq war, as well as some of his policies as bank president -- including his decision to suspend aid to several nations without consulting the bank's board.